The Practices And Challenges Of Conflict Management The Case Of Government Secondary Schools In Arada Sub-city

The purpose of the study was to investigate the practices and challenges of conflict management in selected government secondary schools of Arada Sub-City. It was delimited to Bethlehem and Tikur Anbessa secondary schools. Exploratory mixed research design was employed to conduct the study. Both random and non-random sampling techniques were used to select sample respondents out of the target population. With these techniques, the schools’ principals and deputy directors, as well as department heads and administration personnel were selected. The total sample size of the study was 60. Primary and secondary sources of data were used in the study. Data for the study were collected by using questionnaire, interview, FGD and document analysis. Based on the nature of the data collected, both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were employed to analyze the data. That is, data obtained in response to close-ended items were analyzed quantitatively while those data obtained from the open-ended items, from interviews, focus group discussion and documents were analyzed qualitatively. As a result, the study concludes that violation of school rules and workplace ethics, workloads and unfair period allocation and distribution, employee benefit-related matters, and unreasonable absence from workplace were the major causes of conflicts in the schools under study. It also concludes that the practices of conflict management in the schools were bound with several challenges. Hence, lack of trained conflict settlers, absence of suitable conflict resolution guideline and lack of commitment to resolve conflicts were challenges to the practices of conflict resolution. Besides, mediators’ intuitive behavior, misunderstanding and negative attitudes between parties were among the challenges of conflict management in the schools. Moreover, interpersonal, intergroup and intra-group conflicts were common types of conflicts arisen in the schools. When the conflicting situation was found to be discipline related case, the strategy used to resolve the conflict was by applying the provisions stipulated in the school administration and discipline guideline. The study also recommends that conflict management strategies used in schools should include building on leadership skills and having useful mechanisms in place to deal with conflicts. It is also very crucial for school administrators focusing on resolving conflicts before escalating and result in negative outcomes on the school’s environment. In addition, it would be important working on being knowledgeable about sources of conflicts, expanding resources, giving staff opportunities for growth, and also trying to embrace change

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